One after another, Rhode Island’s politicians are jumping on organized labor’s WPRO-boycott bandwagon.

The flap centers on words talk show host John DePetro used to describe union protesters outside a “Women Changing Rhode Island” fundraiser for General Treasurer Gina Raimondo on Sept. 26.

The protesters called Raimondo “a crook” who “cooked the books.” On his show the next day, DePetro called the protesters parasites, union hags and whores. Three weeks ago, a union-led coalition chaired by Maureen Martin, the political director for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO secretary treasurer, launched the campaign to drive DePetro from Rhode Island airwaves. In recent days, it has made headway.

On Thursday, Governor Chafee — and the two high-profile Democrats hoping to succeed him — said they would not go on WPRO radio again unless the station fires DePetro.

On Friday, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, who hopes to succeed the term-limited Roberts as lieutenant governor, House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, U.S. Rep. James Langevin and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse were among those saying they, too, would boycott all WPRO talk shows until DePetro is terminated.

Fox issued this statement: “When you are on the radio, you have a special responsibility to uphold, and he has breached that trust. This is far from the first time that he has made derogatory comments about women and minority groups.”

But a spokeswoman for Roberts could not recall what year the lieutenant governor last went on a WPRO talk show. The same held true for several other high-profile Democrats pledging to boycott the station’s talk shows. Their staffers could not recall when they last went on.

And some, such as Attorney General Peter Kilmartin tweeted his intent to “continue my long-standing refusal to go on @JohnDePetroshow.”

But now the two GOP candidates for governor — and the chairman of the state Republican Party — say they are also backing the boycott, though Cranston Mayor Allan Fung went only so far as to say: “I will not appear on his show.”

State Republican Party Chairman Mark Smiley went further.

“Although we don’t always agree politically and ideologically with Democrats in Rhode Island, we fully agree on this matter. The ‘John DePetro Show’ is demeaning to women and minorities, and this kind of behavior can’t be tolerated,” Smiley said.

“The Rhode Island Republican Party will be boycotting WPRO indefinitely until the ‘John DePetro Show’ is terminated. In addition, we call upon WPRO management and their parent company, Cumulus Media Inc., to take action immediately,” he said.

Earlier in the day, GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Block issued this statement: “Helen Glover, Dan Yorke, Matt Allen and many others have delivered conservative viewpoints to their listeners without using vulgar words. … There is no place on the Rhode Island airwaves for discourse that disgusts.”

Fung followed with this tweet: “There has to be some limits about what can be said even on talk radio. John DePetro has stepped over the line too many times … I will not appear on his show.”

Asked why he was not willing to boycott all of the station’s talk shows, Fung said: “During this time of high unemployment, it would be especially unfair to allow the statements of one person to impact a major employer to the detriment of others.

“The unions should not be dictating how a business operates. My entire focus is putting Rhode Islanders back to work, not the opposite. For these reasons, I will not be boycotting all hosts on WPRO,” he said.

WPRO program director Craig Schwalb declined comment.

There was confusion Friday as to what, if anything, the politicians “signed” on the web page created by the union-led organization known as “For Our Daughters RI.”

The online petition says: “We respectfully insist that Alex and Ani take immediate action and cease advertising on WPRO so long as John DePetro remains on the air.”

Regardless, Giovanni Feroce, CEO of the non-union, Rhode Island-based jewelry maker with more than 1,000 employees, said again Friday that the petition drive has had no effect on Alex + Ani’s advertising with WPRO.

He said disputes over name-calling are “nonsense” and, in his view, it would be better to teach children “not to react to name-calling … and I would suggest that irrespective of the harshness of a word, ignoring it is likely the best route. … That, in my opinion, is mature, adult behavior.”

But as the story played out over Twitter, Providence City Council President and mayoral candidate Michael Solomon said that in addition to boycotting the DePetro show, he was “Stopping all Wes’ advertising too.” (Solomon is proprietor of Wes’ Rib House in Olneyville.)

What next after this show of force? This was the response from @ForRIDaughters: “Stay tuned, just beginning.”

The group’s members include leaders from the national AFL-CIO, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the NEA, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the Rev. Duane Clinker and Sister Ann Keefe.